EVENTS
Highlights from the 2025 Every Hour Counts National Conference
Over three unforgettable days, the 2025 Every Hour Counts National Conference brought together more than 240 changemakers from 50+ communities—united not just by shared goals, but by a shared identity: a movement.
In the face of mounting challenges, this gathering was a beacon—a place to reflect, reconnect, and recommit. Together, we honored 20 years of collective progress, stood firm in our values, and lit the path forward for the work still ahead.
Now, we’re excited to share some of our favorite moments—a vibrant celebration of learning, leadership, and impact.
Ideas That Will Shape What’s Next
With 25 sessions, 75+ speakers, and voices from across the afterschool ecosystem—intermediaries, youth leaders, funders, policymakers, and researchers—the conference delivered powerful insights to help us lead through complexity and build what’s next. Across these workshops, leaders shared candid reflections, practical tools, and proven strategies for designing systems-wide solutions that expand access to learning and supports for all young people.
Speakers didn’t shy away from naming the real challenges of collaboration and the evolving role of intermediaries. Participants left equipped with new knowledge and deeper connections on sustainable systems-building, policy and advocacy, continuous improvement, centering youth voice, and planning boldly for the future.
Here are three standout insights:
In times of uncertainty, strategic advocacy is essential.
During the Policy Deep Dive, experts from Penn Hill Group, Youthprise, MOST, and Every Hour Counts broke down the shifting federal landscape—including executive orders, funding delays, and rising political tensions. Their key message: OST leaders must embrace both defensive and proactive strategies. From rethinking public messaging to scenario planning for FY25 and FY26, the call was clear: prepare deeply, advocate locally, and protect what matters—youth access and equity.
Systems that thrive are rooted in imagination, not just infrastructure.
Gene Roehlkepartain of Search Institute led a powerful visioning session, asking us to dream boldly about what youth ecosystems could look like in 2050. Reflecting on real progress—from declining youth incarceration to increased global internet access—he reminded us that transformation is possible. But only if we lead with hope, purpose, and a culture of relationship-based, community-wide investment in youth. This is the long arc of change—and it's worth it.
Youth voice isn’t a sidebar—it’s the way forward.
In his closing keynote, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison reminded us that real change is driven by young people. Their courage, clarity, and lived experience are shaping the policies, practices, and movements we need—today. It’s on us to follow their lead with integrity and urgency.
Together, these insights underscored what the conference made clear: to build a future where all youth thrive, we must connect vision with action, advocacy with heart, and imagination with infrastructure.
